Two Dutch teenage boys, both aged 17, have been arrested by the Politie for allegedly spying for Russia using hacking devices.
According to Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, the boys used WiFi sniffers near the offices of Europol, Eurojust, and the Canadian embassy in The Hague.
Europol confirmed the incident to BleepingComputer, but said there was no evidence that its systems were compromised. “We are in close contact with the Dutch authorities regarding this case. Europol has a robust security infrastructure in place, and there is no indication that our systems have been compromised. We take the security of our operations and staff extremely seriously,” a Europol spokesperson said.
The teenagers were reportedly recruited through Telegram and arrested following a tip from the Dutch intelligence agency, AIVD. One of the boys was taken into custody while doing his homework at home, with his parents unaware of his alleged espionage activities. “We raise our children to prepare them for dangers in life: smoking, vaping, alcohol, and drugs. But not for something like this. Who would ever consider this a risk?” said the father of one of the arrested boys.
Due to the seriousness of the charges, the teenagers will remain in custody for at least two weeks while the investigation continues. The case highlights a growing trend of Russian recruitment of minors in Europe, with similar incidents previously reported in Germany, where youths were paid to vandalize or sabotage critical infrastructure.
WiFi sniffers, the devices used by the teenagers, can detect wireless networks and intercept traffic by listening to radio signals. These tools are often used in the reconnaissance stage of cyberattacks. Russian hacking group APT28 has previously exploited WiFi networks, with Volexity reporting in 2024 that the group used a “nearest neighbor attack” to breach a U.S. company through its enterprise WiFi network.
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